Shane Claiborne, one of the founders of The Simple Way community in Philadelphia and author of the book The Irresistible Revolution. recently published a letter in Esquire magazine that I think should be shared with all those who have suffered at the hand of the church. His opening paragraph begins:
"To all my non believing, sort-of-believing, and used-to-be-believing friends: I feel like I should begin with a confession. I am sorry that so often the biggest obstacle to God has been Christians. Christians who have had so much to say with our mouths and so little to show with our lives. I am sorry that so often we have forgotten the Christ of our Christianity. Forgive us. Forgive us for the embarrassing things we have done in the name of God."
I adore Shane Claiborne on many many levels but that is heightened by the fact that this is published in Esquire magazine. Not Christianity Today, or Sojourners (which I love) but in a magazine frequented most often by the exact people that he desires to communicate with. In his article, he discusses a fairly common story (inside and outside of the church), The Good Samaritan. This story provides the best example of how we as the church seem to have forgotten the Christ part of Christian. As the ailing man on the side of a road and is passed by the pious church leaders, it is the Samaritan, the person who has been so wounded by the religion in the past that he shouldn't even bother, who stops. This is what the love and compassion of Christ should look like. Daily, we find ourselves in the role of the Levite and the Priest, but we need to hear the call of the gospel and consider who's ailing on the side of the roads on which we walk.
Check out the entire article
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